Microsoft Vows To Fight Government Spying Via Kinect
- Thread starter Steven Bogos
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Actually, it's very useful as a camera also shows the person's [i/]room[/i]. For example, my room is set-up so that if I had a Kinect on my Xbox it could see my bookshelf, movie collection, and game pile. Now why is all that important? It gives the company more information on what I like. Add the fact the new Kinect measures heart-rate -which is in some part controlled by emotional state- and this device is perfect for marketing. "This guy gets excited from action movies with lots of explosions. Let's show him ads for our next game with lots of explosions." "This guy has a lot of Sci-fi books and movies. Let's show him all our 'cool' Sci-fi stuff."josemlopes said:
As for them just tracking my movements on the console or browser, well that only goes so far since it's all based on current products they have. Maybe I and a sizeable portion of people enjoy a genre (say steampunk) that they have no (or very few) products for. How can they learn about that from monitoring us when we're on the console? They can't; but they [i/]can[/i] learn about it from watching us read books of that genre, watch movies of that genre, etc. Now they've learned about a new market and they'll do what any good money-loving company will do: capitalize on it and make more money.
Spying isn't only about watching a person, but their surroundings as well.
Kinect 2.0 is powerful enough to see through most fabrics. My idea is a specially constructed lead barrier with sound absorbing foam as a lining.Teoes said:
I don't know about win8 (never used and I don't want to) but in win7, vista or xp (and older) users have control over what their OS is doing. You can just block undesired apps and connections to ensure your privacy.Steven Bogos said:
Anyway we can always switch to linux
Well Microsoft has already said that it will be collecting meta data of the users for targeted advertising, where as the other examples don't do that. And while yes you can disable the Kinnect (supposedly) just like you can on a tablet or smart phone there's a rather important difference..... trust, or the lack of.oggebogge91 said:
The "deal with it", "we have another product for those that don't want to be online, it's the xbox 360" and other such comments by their (now unemployed) employees are showing their attitude towards their customers as nothing more than assets or resources to use, they will sell us games but they will also sell the data they collect to other corporations and god knows who else.
To customize and adjust advertisements on your home screen to fit your personal tastes and habits.oggebogge91 said:
Just have it not be mandatory for fucks sake!
Oh lets go to court and fight the government instead says Microsoft, because everyone needs a Kinect whether they like it or not.
Oh lets go to court and fight the government instead says Microsoft, because everyone needs a Kinect whether they like it or not.
Well at least they found their PR touch again, but as stated before this is a blatant lie because they damn well know US government can order surveillance on anyone at anytime without legal process under Patriot Act.
The only odd thing about this is that China didn't think of it first, might copy it afterwards.
The only odd thing about this is that China didn't think of it first, might copy it afterwards.
Or for those of us who simply don't have the space to even use one. I have just enough space in my room for my chair! It would be used as an over priced microphone in my case. I don't want a £100 microphone, I already have two perfectly working microphones for my Xbox.Grouchy Imp said:
I think that was their plan. The idea was to stop government spying by making the console equivalent of "Springtime for Hitler!" One can only hope that this doesn't backfire, like it did in that movie....Batman and Robin!Somethingfake said:
Good point, I hadn't even looked at it that way. There is a very thin argument along the lines that Microsoft is only doing with the Kinect sensor in the Xbox One what Sony did with Blu-Ray players in the PS3, but Sony made a massive loss with each PS3 sold in order to keep the price competitive with the 360. Microsoft have refused to absorb the cost of this 'innovation' and passed it down to consumers who are, justifiably, miffed. Perhaps even vexed.CardinalPiggles said:
Microsoft I don't belief you!
I don't belief you at all!
The best way to sell a product like your xbox one with needed kinect 2.0 is to put a bit power off switch on the kinect 2.0.
Just allow it to be off, or even disconnected!
Who is going to be belief you that you will fight against the goverment of the country that you have your business in.
I don't belief you at all!
The best way to sell a product like your xbox one with needed kinect 2.0 is to put a bit power off switch on the kinect 2.0.
Just allow it to be off, or even disconnected!
Who is going to be belief you that you will fight against the goverment of the country that you have your business in.
The simple answer...josemlopes said:
...
Humans are irrational creatures. A GPS positioning smartphone can gather a whole lot more of useful data about your activity then a web camera can. However, the fact that the camera sees you makes it more personal; it makes it more creepy.
In my line of work, I've seen allot of people that don't trust web cameras built into laptops and computer screens. They usually cover up the camera with a piece of torn post-it note or some tape and allot of computer companies are now adding sliding covers to the camera, to accommodate those with a camera phobia who wouldn't otherwise consider their models. Yet these very same people are usually perfectly happy about walking around with a GPS smart phone that could theoretically track their position, phone usage and web history, not to mention having its own built in camera (but that's ok because the phone is most of the time in a pocket, anyways).
Microsoft is getting all that flack for their Kinect because they're being upfront about all the creepy little things that their device can do and vague about the things that could calm down these fears. It uses facial and voice recognition. It tracks all your movements. It needs to be plugged into the Xbox for it to work. It's always on, even when the console is powered down (although vague reports from Microsoft state that it can be powered down as well, possibly, maybe). This stuff is nightmare fuel for people with web came paranoia.
So the short answer...
It's simply irrational fear. When some people see a web camera they don't see a camera, they see this:
That's why they're making it such an integral part of XBox One. EVERYONE will have a Kinect 2.0 right from the start. So any time you do log in and just don't remember to turn it off, it has the potential to listen to what you're saying and see what you surround yourself with. Microsoft can use that information to custom-tailor advertisements on your home screen to your preferences to try and entice/trick you into clicking on one of the ads. It's more in service to advertisers than anything else. At least that's what I'm gathering from other articles on the interwebs. And articles on the interwebs are infallibly correct on everything all the time XD.BigTuk said:
Still think the Kinect functions are actually kind of cool. I actually like that the Kinect understands when you pass off a controller to another player and it instantly swaps to that player's controller scheme. I also like the face-mapping feature they showed off at SD Comic-Con. Just not comfortable with having to deal with paying for a premium service and still being forced to deal with advertisements on my homescreen. I actually think I'm just going to sit this console generation out for a while and see how both Microsoft and Sony fair.
Why is it I get the feeling Microsoft only wants to get rid of government spying so it can own the market?